Skip to main content

Hyphen or Underscore in URLs: Which One to Use for Inner Pages in Your Website?

When it comes to creating URLs for your website's inner pages, one common question that often arises is whether to use a hyphen or an underscore to separate words in the URL. 

While it may seem like a minor detail, the choice between a hyphen or an underscore can have a significant impact on your website's SEO performance. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the differences between hyphens and underscores in URLs and which one you should use for your website's inner pages.

Hyphen or Underscore in URLs: Which One to Use for Inner Pages in Your Website?

Hyphens vs. Underscores in URLs

Hyphens (-) and underscores (_) are both commonly used to separate words in URLs. However, there are some key differences between the two that can impact your website's SEO performance.

Hyphens

Hyphens are more commonly used in URLs than underscores. Hyphens are recommended by Google as the preferred way to separate words in URLs. Hyphens are seen as more user-friendly since they are easier to read and separate words more clearly.

Underscores

Underscores are less commonly used in URLs than hyphens. Underscores can sometimes cause confusion for search engines, as they are also used to separate words in HTML code. Underscores can be more difficult to read, especially when they are used to separate multiple words. Which One to Use for Your Website's Inner Pages?

Preferred choice - HYPHENS!!

Based on the differences between hyphens and underscores in URLs, it's recommended to use hyphens to separate words in your website's inner page URLs. Here are some reasons why

SEO Performance

Since Google recommends using hyphens in URLs, using them can potentially improve your website's SEO performance and make it easier for search engines to understand what your page is about.

User-Friendly

Hyphens are easier to read and separate words more clearly, making them more user-friendly.

Consistency

Using hyphens consistently in your URLs can help to create a clean and organized structure for your website.

Choosing the right character to separate words in your website's inner page URLs is an important decision that can impact your website's SEO performance. While both hyphens and underscores can be used, hyphens are recommended by Google and are considered more user-friendly. By using hyphens consistently in your URLs, you can create a clean and organized structure for your website that is both SEO-friendly and user-friendly.

Also from the previous related post on Hyphens or Underscores


When it comes to search engine optimization, we all are aware that what to choose, as keywords and what not to choose.

There is a common belief that if you have to name the internal pages of your website, then you should take keywords for the same (business specific), by considering the following things,

  • Check the theme of the page and select the keyword reflecting the webpage,
  • The keyword selected should be the popular keyword and
  • By creating the category(ies) in the form of top navigation, left or right navigation along with the footer links, as important business related keywords.


The point to be noted here is, that keywords should be inserted but the important thing to be taken into consideration is that it should not make the webpage spammy.


What to choose, "a Hyphen or an Underscore" while naming the internal webpages for the site?

This is the very basic and important question which should be answered before naming the webpages for the website. The point as discussed above is to keep the keywords, as the internal webpage URL, in order to circulate the keyword.


Now comes the three situations and to choose which is the best as far as the SEO point of view is concerned,

  • Two Keywords (or 3 Keywords) - joining them without a space, or
  • Two Keywords (or 3 Keywords) - seperating them with an underscore, or
  • Two Keywords (or 3 Keywords) - seperating them with a hyphen


There is the following drawback if we consider the first point, I.e., joining two words without space, underscore or hyphen.


Before discussing the above point we should remember one thing in mind, that "as a user will I be typing that word without space? or will I be interested in such long search term query". Based on this the explanation to the joined keywords is, that 1 user in 100's or 1000's will come and try to put that type of search term, so unless and until the keyword chosen is extremely popular its not worth to use it.


Now we should see the Underscore and the Hyphen stuff. Both Undersocre and the Hyphen are an appropriate way to name your webpages using keywords. Both are used to segregate one word into meaningful words.


But we have one basic thing associated with underscores, and that an underscore may just merge with the line, whereas a hyphen can't. In laymen language a hyphen looks and makes the webpage more readable and easy for navigation to the visitors as compared to the underscore.


The bottom line is you can use hyphen for the inner webpages and also the underscores, but my preference goes with the hyphen, as I did Google search for some keyword by using a hyphen and an underscore. And I got two different search results,

  1. with Hyphen it was cool, in the sense that those two words were treated as different when I placed hyphen, and
  2. with Underscore it was different, and I got a message as to saying that am I looking for a different keyword.





Some Useful Links




Related Posts

Suggested Reading

Most Read SEO Articles
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of 100 Article Directories

An article is an essay or a research on a particular topic. Article provides a lot of exposure to your business and very high relevant traffic to your website. Other than providing the quality traffic, article submission has SEO benefits also, it gives a valuable back-link to the website. So here we go with the list of 100 Article Submission websites, "BEST 100 ARTICLE DIRECTORIES" S.No. ARTICLE DIRECTORY PR SUBMISSION PAGE STATUS 1 MAGPORTAL 7 Submit Article SIGN UP 2 EMEDIAWIRE 6 Submit Article SIGN UP 3 EZINEARTICLES 6 Submit Article SIGN UP 4 GOARTICLES 6 Submit Article SIGN UP 5 WEBPRONEWS 6 Submit Article SUBMIT 6 ARTICLEPOOL 6 Submit Article SIGN UP 7 MARKETINGSOURCE ARTICLES 5 Submit Article SUBMIT 8 ARTICLEMOTRON 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 9 ARTICLESON 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 10 ARTICLESBASE 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 11 BUZZLEARTICLES 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 12 ARTICLEALLEY 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 13 ARTICLE DASHBOARD 5 Submit Article SIGN UP 14 WEB-SOURCE 5 Submit A
10 comments
Read more

Optimizing Your Website for Local Searches: A Local SEO Guide

Local SEO Guide In today's digital landscape, local businesses must prioritize their online presence to attract and retain local customers. One of the most effective strategies for achieving this is by optimizing your website for local searches. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the key steps and best practices to boost your local SEO and ensure that your website ranks prominently in local search results. The topics covered in the local SEO guide are listed below,   Understanding Local SEO Keyword Research for Local SEO On-Page Optimization Techniques Website Localization Google My Business Optimization Local Link Building Strategies Mobile Optimization for Local Searches Online Reviews and Reputation Management Social Media for Local SEO Tracking and Measuring Local SEO Performance Please comment if you feel something is missing! Understanding Local SEO Local SEO refers to the practice of optimizing a website and online presence to increas
Post a Comment
Read more

Google Redesigns Gmail

Google has redesigned Gmail, which was launched in the year 2004 and remained in beta version till 2009. The new redesign is not the only thing Google is embarking on, rather it's a series of interface updates to help strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail as beautiful as it is powerful. What's New ? As per Google Blog - To start things off, Gmail has two new themes for you to try out as a sort of sneak peek. There is a "Preview” and “Preview (Dense)” themes in the Themes tab in Gmail Settings. The idea of two themes is to accommodate different screen sizes and user preferences, but until then you can pick the information density that you prefer. Here’s what one of the new themes currently looks like: And in conversation view:   Look out for these and other new features over the next few months. In the meantime, try out the new themes as a preview of the future of Gmail and you can send your feedback to Google about your experience with the new look
2 comments
Read more

How to create XML sitemap for your Blogger Blog Manually?

How to Create XML sitemap for your Blogger Blog Manually? Creating an XML sitemap for your Blogger blog can be done manually by following these steps: Open a text editor Open a plain text editor on your computer, such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac). Start the XML document Begin by typing the XML declaration at the top of the document: Add the root element Below the XML declaration, add the root element for the sitemap:     Add URL entries For each page of your blog, add a URL entry within the tags. Here's an example for a blog post: Replace "https://yourblog.blogspot.com/your-blog-post-url" with the actual URL of your blog post. Use the tag to specify the date of the last modification in the format YYYY-MM-DD. indicates how frequently the page is likely to change (e.g., "always," "hourly," "daily," "weekly," "monthly," "yearly," "never"). represents the priority of the page on a scal
Post a Comment
Read more

Google Getting More Real With Its ‘Real Time’ Search

Google launched a real time search engine, specifically dedicated to the searches made in the real time. Get the fun started here www.google.com/realtime You can use geographic refinements to find updates and news that's happening right near you or in the area of your choice. You can also follow a conversation by browsing a full timeline of tweets. Adding to the Google Real Time features, you can now create an alert specifically for "updates" to get an email the moment a topic of interest shows up on Twitter or other short-form services, in Google Alerts.   Currently the Google Real Time Search and updates are available globally in 40 languages, and the geographic refinements and conversations views are available in English, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.
2 comments
Read more

Local SEO Guide

Local SEO Guide
The Local SEO Guide - the key steps and best practices to boost your local SEO and ensure that your website ranks prominently in local search results.